Signs of bad turbo?

lol i ran into the same problem with the last turbo i bought. You can either take a grinder and cut the bolts off and then use an extractor to remove them or you can take some pb blaster, soak where the chra meets the exhaust housing and then take a rubber mallet and start hammering away. Just don't hit it too hard or you might damage the turbine wheel when the housing finally decides to separate.

Yeah, I am going to refrain from cutting, I just got that Jpipe off today... what a PITA. Whoever decided to put that swiss cheese metal nut needs to be smacked in the head. I have never felt so defeated with my tools.

I stripped it from its usual 12mm size, so I got needle nose vice-grips, which would just slip. I then tried a pair of pliers which I bent out of shape. I then tried filing down one of the edges so that I can fit a 7/16", which I almost got going but got pissed off sitting there with a little Needle file set and just started drilling at the damn nut. After breaking a bit and making a hole in the nut, I decided to try some dremel tools, and I just started cutting away at an angle with a cut off disk, until I reached the stud in multiple areas. Finally, I was looking for something to use as a chisel and decided to pin the pointy side of my welding hammer and hit the other end with a claw hammer until it finally broke loose.

I was hitting the turbine housing with a rubber mallet, but no luck, my hand just started hurting from the shocks of holding the turbo. I ended up reading a bunch and decided to put it in the freezer. Tomorrow, I will pull it out, put the housing to a torch and hit it with the mallet again.

BTW, how much radial shaft play is acceptable (side to side)? I can hear and feel it moving a little, but cannot see any motion.
 
That's normal for a tiny bit of shaft play, you will feel it pop back and forth just a tad. Unfortunately all the heat cycling really sticks the housings together.
 
Hey guys, I know its pricey but I was wondering if its possible to buy a brand new OEM turbo for the MSP these days? Does anyone know where I can get one from? Or is our only option nowadays to rebuild the turbo?
 
Hey guys, I know its pricey but I was wondering if its possible to buy a brand new OEM turbo for the MSP these days? Does anyone know where I can get one from? Or is our only option nowadays to rebuild the turbo?

Now I see why people get angry with people asking such questions... not to mention the off topic question.

Plenty of places to find these turbos. I like ATP.
 
That's normal for a tiny bit of shaft play, you will feel it pop back and forth just a tad. Unfortunately all the heat cycling really sticks the housings together.

Yeah, I just don't see people going nuts about it like other rusty, heat welded parts like tie rod ends or sway bar links. Last time I had to fight a sway bar link, I had to notch it with a dremel so that my vice grips can grab. Dremel saved me this time again... Love the tool!
 
While cleaning the turbo from oil residue, I did see this... Kinda scared me, but it doesn't seem to be a completed hole, but rather a manufacturing imperfection. Anyone seen something like this before?
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That's normal, just from drilling and tapping the hole for one of the oil return bolts.
 
during that -24 Celsius day

ihad some rough start and some leaking wind? noise, checked engine bay and found some smoke near turbo actuator for like half min

wonder if that has something to do with the cold-shrink parts not tightly sealing the exhaust gas?
 
during that -24 Celsius day

ihad some rough start and some “leaking wind? noise”, checked engine bay and found some smoke near turbo actuator for like half min

wonder if that has something to do with the cold-shrink parts not tightly sealing the exhaust gas?

Could be a leak or oil burning, you would have to describe more.
 
My turbo has been in the freezer for a while, and a thought of thermal shock came to my head, do you guys think it would be fine for me to apply a flame to the frozen turbine housing and then hitting it with a mallet without damaging it?

Edit:
Well I went ahead with my little propane torches, I thought about it and realized these things get red hot in operation, my little torches won't even come close to that. Thermal shock is till a possibility though as I pulled it out of the freezer and onto a flame. Nevertheless I was careful.

I also let it soak in some penetrating oil and re applied it over time, was hoping that while heating it, the microscopic differences in the metals will allow the penetrant to seap in and break the seal. After about a half hour of heating and applying penetrating oil, I started hammering at it again and no luck. I let it sit in the penetrating oil for now and went to change oil, brakes, and tighten links on my moms car, re-applying the penetrant as it "disappeared".

How did you guys hold the turbo when hammering at it? I don't have a vice or a work bench so I have to make due otherwise. Any ideas would be appreciated!
 
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I win.

939ecccbe0a256d50961c43f3e922d2f.jpg


Here is what I did:

After taking it out of the freezer and heating the housing for 30 mins, then hitting it with a hammer, nothing happened. I let it sit in the lubricant overnight, came to hit it with a hammer, and nothing. Finally, I went to the store to look for replacement bolts for the housing and found some M8x1.25 but they were too long... So I used them to push against the threaded Banjo bolts one side at a time and it popped off!

It looks like the turbo was balanced... Should I get it rebalance or just mark it and reassemble it? What should I mark, just in case common sense gets the best of me?

I also want to mention that the nut has been ground down in 2 areas, is it ok to replace it or do I need to reuse the same nut?

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Also looks like they balanced with the compressor housing on and carelessly, what do you guys think?

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Well, I got it apart as far as the compressor wheel, but the turbine shaft does not want to come out... I don't want to go too hard on it because this part is sensitive. I have already tried putting the nut back on and tapping it with a hammer and it seems like it moved a bit, but still no luck. In fact I got a little scared as there is binding in the shaft when i spin it!

Also, The little plate behind the compressor wheel has 3 bolts with allen head screws that I am not having luck removing either.
 
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Well, I rebuilt the turbo.

New seals are on.

But of all things, I can't seem to remove the sheared bolt off the turbine housing... I drilled at it, tried screw extractors, I am at the point where there is not much of the bolt metal left... Any advice here?
 
i am about to take the turbo assembly down from my junkyard msp i brought 2 weeks ago.

it has 230kkm, and i know nothing about turbo rebuild...

was thinking to just take it down and check if no shaftplay and oil leak, just clean and paint it then assemble it with Pope parts , mount it on my daily msp and start fabricating the rest of 3" exhaust piping.
 
btw where u get ur t25 rebuild kit, price, and does all the component fit?

i might try to practice rebuilding my 130kkm turbo once i get the 230kkm junkyard one on
 
Well, I rebuilt the turbo.

New seals are on.

But of all things, I can't seem to remove the sheared bolt off the turbine housing... I drilled at it, tried screw extractors, I am at the point where there is not much of the bolt metal left... Any advice here?

A good machinist with lots of experience may have some tricks to help but most likely it will have to be drilled out and the hole re-tapped.
 
Oh ok so this is a journal bearing T25? My stock turbo is leaking and i'm considering trying to replace the compressor housing O-ring seal to see if that fixes it.
 
Oh ok so this is a journal bearing T25? My stock turbo is leaking and i'm considering trying to replace the compressor housing O-ring seal to see if that fixes it.
Nope its ball bearing.

I can put together a guide on the rebuild but I didn't take enough pictures so it will be a broken guide haha.
 
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